Khaled Al Shehhi wins third gold for UAE at Jiu-Jitsu Worlds

Canada tops medals table with double gold on Day 2 of the championship for men and women

Khaled Al Shehhi, bottom, celebrates with UAE teammate Omar Al Fadhi after their gold medal match, won by Al Shehhi. Victor Besa / The National

The UAE added a gold, silver and two bronze medals on Day 2 of the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in Abu Dhabi to take their tally to 10 medals.

It also took their overall tally to 29 after the U16 boys and girls bagged 19 medals across the first two days of the championship being held at Jiu-Jitsu Arena.

Khaled Al Shehhi grabbed the host nation’s third gold in the men’s division with victory over Omar Al Fadhli in an all-Emirati final in 62-kilogram weight. They were joined on the podium by Hessa Al Shamsi (women’s 48kg) and Saeed Al Kubaisi (85kg) with bronze medals.

Al Fadhli followed what Faisal Al Ketbi, the national team captain and most decorated Emirati jiu-jitsu athlete did on the previous night, allowing his teammate to take the win after reaching the final.

“It was an amazing effort from my teammate Khaled to come through four fights to reach the final and he deserved to take the gold,” Al Fadhli, the defending champion of the category, said.

“Our goal was to reach the final and we achieved that, and it doesn’t matter who won the gold as long as it was for the UAE. We are going to celebrate this achievement tonight and get ready for the next event.”

Both Al Fadhli and Al Shehhi will compete in the Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Championship starting next week.

“It is an amazing tournament. I am glad I could win all five fights today,” Al Shehhi added.

“I feel so proud to represent the UAE in the World Championship and win the medal. I met my friend Omar in the final. I want to congratulate him for the top-notch performance today.”

Canada moved top of the medals table by winning two golds, two silvers and a bronze on Day 2.

Rain Pfaff took gold in the over 70kg defeating Laura Castillo of Colombia in the final and Felicia Marceau overcame Christina Tsantila of Greece in the 57kg, both in the women’s division to take their overall tally to four golds, two silvers and three bronze.

The UAE (3-3-4) dropped to second followed by Germany (3-1-1)..